ROBOSENSE WINS CES 2020 INNOVATION AWARD
FOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY
RoboSense Wins Award for World’s First MEMS-based Smart LiDAR Sensor
for Self-Driving Passenger Vehicles
Press release: http://www.thomas-pr.com/robosense/robosenseCES2020innovationawardrelease.html
November 7, 2019, Shenzhen, China – RoboSense http://www.robosense.ai, the world’s leading autonomous driving LiDAR perception solution provider, announced today that it has won the CES 2020 Innovation Award the second year in a row for autonomous vehicle technology. RoboSense won this year’s CES 2020 Innovation Award for the first MEMS-based Smart LiDAR Sensor, the RoboSense RS-LiDAR-M1, winning in the Vehicle Intelligence and Self-Driving Technology category.
RoboSense RS-LiDAR-M1
The RoboSense award-winning RS-LiDAR-M1 is the world’s first and only MEMS-based smart LiDAR sensor for self-driving passenger vehicles with its own embedded AI algorithm technologies and SoC (System on a Chip). The RS-LiDAR-M1 goes beyond traditional LiDAR, providing full data collection and comprehension. As a ground-breaking product, the RS-LiDAR-M1 not only collects and interprets high definition 3D point cloud data, but also processes road data in real-time, with a built-in AI algorithm and SoC, while at the same time synchronizing high-precision positioning output; road traffic signage; lane markings, driving areas, road curbs, and obstacle detection; tracking; and classification. Also, it is the world’s smallest MEMS-based solid-state LiDAR, providing a low cost, high stability, and superior manufacturability to meet automotive-grade and serial production requirements.
“We are honored to be recognized by CES for the second year in a row for our innovative autonomous vehicle technology to advance passenger vehicle acceptance and mass production,” said Dr. Leilei Shinohara, RoboSense Vice President of R&D. “Our technologies have been certified by RoboSense’s over 100 global partners in various types of autopilot scenarios. Recently, we have partnered with FAW (‘First Automobile Works’), the world’s leading automotive OEM, to include the RS-LiDAR-M1 as a core component into FAW’s proprietary next-generation autonomous driving system development. After extensive data training and model optimization, our sensors have shown performance stability far superior to any other technologies available on the market.”
The RoboSense RS-LiDAR-M1 Smart LiDAR Sensor will be on display in the Innovation Awards Showcase at the upcoming CES 2020.
About CES & CES Innovation Awards
An annual program that celebrates outstanding design, the CES Innovation Awards recognizes the best technology products of the year. A panel of judges, including designers, engineers and members of the tech media, reviews submissions based on design, functionality, consumer appeal, engineering and how the products compare with competition.
The CES Innovation Awards are sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™, owner and producer of CES, the world’s largest and most influential technology event. CTA has been recognizing achievements in product design and engineering since 1976.
CES 2020 will showcase life-changing technology across every major industry. CES provides access to the very latest transformative tech, such as 5G connectivity, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, smart home, smart cities, sports tech, machine learning and more. For the latest news and show announcements, visit CES.tech and on social.
About RoboSense
Founded in 2014, RoboSense is the world’s leading provider of LiDAR environment perception solutions designed to provide a higher performance, safer, more reliable, and lower cost LiDAR system for autonomous vehicles. RoboSense has entered into strategic partnerships with many top car companies, tier one manufacturers and technology companies with a global reach.
For more information about RoboSense, visit the website: https://www.robosense.ai.
Follow RoboSense on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robosenseLiDAR
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoboSenseLiDAR
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYCK8j678N6d_ayWE_8F3rQ
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57 Utah Allstate agencies help domestic violence survivors with clothing drive, earn $20,000 grant for South Valley Services
Nonprofits in more than 50 cities get $500,000 in Helping Hands grants from The Allstate Foundation during Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Ogden, Utah -- Nov. 7, 2019 – 57 Utah Allstate agency owners recently collected professional clothing through supply drives to help domestic violence survivors. Volunteers across 24 states also secured $500,000 in Allstate Foundation Helping Hands Grants for 45 nonprofit organizations, including $20,000 for South Valley Services in Utah.
The professional clothing and supplies from Utah residents were donated to South Valley Services to help domestic violence survivors reenter the workforce and get on the path to financial independence. South Valley Services will use the grant to continue to provide shelter, advocacy, case management and prevention to families and individuals impacted by domestic violence.
“Survivors face the hard choice of becoming homeless or staying with their abuser,” South Valley Services’ Development Director Peggy Daniel said. “We provide survivors with choices and a hope of a better future.”
Nonprofits like South Valley Services often operate with limited resources, and the donations will help them serve more survivors.
“Financial abuse is one of the top reasons domestic violence victims can't leave abusive relationships, and it affects every community,” Utah Allstate Agency Owner Shonie Christensen said. “Utah’s residents really came together for this great cause, and the support warmed our hearts.”
The supply drive during Domestic Violence Awareness Month was part of a countrywide effort of The Allstate Foundation benefiting women’s shelters and domestic violence nonprofits.
Participating Utah Allstate agency owners include (in alphabetical order):
Allstate Foundation Helping Hands Grants
Allstate employees and the agency force give back to their communities by earning Helping Hands Grants through volunteering. The grants are one example of The Allstate Foundation’s legacy of service and giving. The Foundation has contributed over $449 million to community nonprofits since it was created in 1952.
Efforts Against Domestic Violence
The Allstate Foundation has invested over $66 million to raise public awareness of domestic violence and financial abuse and has empowered more than 1.7 million survivors on the road to safety and security through financial education.
Learn More and Help
Pair of Civil Rights Lawsuits Reveal Utah Education System Failing to Protect Vulnerable Students with Disabilities from Abuse, Neglect, Segregation and Discrimination
Today, the Disability Law Center (DLC) filed two (2) separate civil rights lawsuits on behalf of children with disabilities, neither able to speak, one legally blind, both subjected to shocking, unthinkable abuse at the hands of the very public school staff entrusted with their education, protection and care. In addition to asserting claims against the local school district and individual district employees, both lawsuits allege that the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) consistently violates federal law by failing to provide meaningful and effective oversight, monitoring, rule-making and rule enforcement within the Utah public school system as a whole, and exposes students with disabilities in particular, to very real, physical dangers that go far beyond inadequate and unequal educational services:
In Turner v. Alpine Sch. Dist., Utah State Board of Education, et al., a blind student with Autism was brutally assaulted by a school bus driver, in multiple incidents, over the course of several days. The student endured blows to the head, slaps to the face and hands, painful twisting of her arms and fingers, and perhaps more disturbingly, verbal taunts from the bus driver as he carried out the abuse. Multiple District Aides witnessed these violent incidents of child abuse and failed to intervene in any way. And though required under Utah law and District policy, none of these Aides reported what they saw to District administrators, law enforcement or the child’s parents. And despite clear requirements that all school staff who interact with children with disabilities undergo appropriate training pursuant to USBE guidance and District policy, no such training was provided to the bus driver who beat a blind, non-verbal child, or to the Aides who watched it happen without raising an objection. Further, the suit alleges that USBE consistently fails to provide adequate oversight and enforcement of Utah school districts’ compliance with federal law, and has through inaction, contributed to an atmosphere where such abuses are not only possible, but likely to occur. The lawsuit alleges that the actions and failures to act by the named defendants violated the child’s rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehab Act), and the fundamental rights guaranteed by the 4th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
In Keller v. Alpine Sch. Dist., Utah State Board of Education, et al., a child who attended a segregated school intended exclusively for children with disabilities was subjected to unlawful and shocking ‘behavior interventions,’ which included: being punitively deprived of food and water; being strapped to a “Rifton Chair” for hours at a time; and on other occasions, by having his hands bound behind his back with twine. These abuses were perpetrated by a Special Education teacher and other District staff with purported expertise in the provision of highly specialized educational services and supports tailored to the unique needs of students with disabilities. The complaint identifies District-wide failures to adequately train staff who serve students with disabilities, and state-wide systemic failures by USBE to fulfill its most basic oversight, monitoring and enforcement functions. The lawsuit alleges that the conduct of the individual defendants, in concert with the systemic failures of the District and USBE, resulted in the shocking civil rights abuses endured by the vulnerable child plaintiff. As in the Turner suit described above, the plaintiff in Keller is seeking a range of injunctive, declaratory, and monetary relief for violations of the ADA, Rehab Act, and rights secured by the 4th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Reflecting on the wider issues raised in the litigation, DLC Legal Director, Aaron Kinikini, observed, “The fact that these appalling incidents of abuse occurred in the same district at roughly the same time is an obvious indictment of some disturbing local deficiencies, but it also speaks to a larger, system-wide failure that places our most vulnerable children in harm’s way each time they board a school bus or enter a public school. Utah simply has to do better, and the children whose parents have courageously brought these lawsuits certainly deserve better. Accountability and meaningful reform are their goals, and should be ours as well.”
The lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Utah. The Complaints can be viewed at http://disabilitylawcenter.org/litigation/
The Disability Law Center (DLC) is a private non-profit organization. The DLC’s mission is to enforce and strengthen laws that protect the opportunities, choices and legal rights of Utahns with disabilities. DLC services are available statewide and free of charge, regardless of income, legal status, language, or place of residence.
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Good afternoon,
Recent survey done by Utah’s Employer Council show a 3% average employee pay increase for Utah in 2019 and a 5% increase for top performers. More details regarding the results of the 2019 Planning Packet Survey can be found below.
If you have any questions, please let me know. Appreciate your consideration in running this story.
Have a great weekend!
Whitney
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Utah’s Employers Council Unveils Results of 2019 Planning Packet Survey Containing Projected Pay Increases for 2020
Survey reveals projected pay increases and current trends in Utah, Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming
Salt Lake City, Nov. 8, 2019 – Utah’s Employers Council, a leader in human resource and employment law services for the business community, recently announced the results of its 2019 Planning Packet Survey that reveals projections about compensation budgets for 2020 and 2019 – ’20 economic conditions.
The survey highlights a projected 3.0 percent average employee pay increase for Utah in 2019, and a 5.0 percent increase for top performers. Overall, Utah’s average pay is projected to increase by 3 percent in 2019, down 0.3 percent from the actual 3.3 percent pay increase documented this year in Employers Council’s 2019 Benchmark Compensation Survey.
“Overall, the survey projects Utah’s salaries will remain strong and employees will continue to experience an upswing in overall compensation. In the past year, average employee pay increased by 3.3 percent and it’s estimated to grow another 3 percent in 2020,” said Ryan D. Nelson, president of Employers Council’s Utah office. “This survey is an incredibly extensive estimate of where the entire state is headed in terms of compensation, and we are pleased to provide such relevant and helpful information to employers.”
The complete survey separated pay increases geographically among four states, including Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, as well as within Utah, including Wasatch North, Wasatch South, Mountainland and Central-Southern.
When compared with the other states, Utah’s average pay increase for the typical employee was on par with other states, though Utah’s projected pay increase for top performers was down nearly a full percent since 2018, while all other participating states’ projected top performer pay increased.
2020 Average Projected Pay Increase - “Average or Typical Employee”
2020 Average Projected Pay Increase - “Top Performer”
This year’s survey also includes Business Trends and Staffing/Hiring Levels sections with information related to 2020 business outlook, the greatest challenges to achieving business growth, the most challenging job groups to recruit and/or retain, strategies to overcome recruitment and retention challenges.
Due to the quality and breadth of the data, the full version of the survey is available exclusively to members of Employers Council. For more information on becoming a member or purchasing the surveys, visit employerscouncil.org or call 801-364-8479.
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ABOUT EMPLOYERS COUNCIL
Employers Council serves more than 4,500 employers, of all sizes and industries, providing the resources needed to build and maintain profitable organizations. Members are assisted by over 70 human resource, organizational development and survey professionals and 60 staff attorneys out of offices in Salt Lake City, Scottsdale, Denver, Colorado Springs, Loveland and Grand Junction. Employers Council provides employment law and human resource services to members facing the everyday challenges of operating a business. Employers Council also provides training to more than 25,000-member employees annually and offers unsurpassed HR survey data. For more information, visit www.employerscouncil.org.
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USDA Announces Block Grants For Three States as Part of Broader Disaster Relief Package
(Washington, D.C., November 8, 2019) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will make available $800 million to agricultural producers in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia affected by hurricanes Michael and Florence. The state block grants are part of a broader $3 billion package to help producers recover from 2018 and 2019 natural disasters, which includes the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program-Plus (WHIP+) as well as programs for loss of milk and stored commodities.
“Natural disasters dealt producers some hefty blows in the past couple of years,” said Secretary Perdue. “This relief complements USDA’s tool chest of disaster assistance programs and crop insurance. In many cases, these special programs help us better reach producers who suffered substantial losses beyond what our regular programs cover. While we can’t make producers whole, we can give them a helping hand to get back on their feet and prepare for next year’s planting and harvest.”
USDA and the governor’s office in Florida and the state departments of agriculture in the other two states are working out final details for the grants, which will cover qualifying losses not covered by other USDA disaster programs. Grant funding will cover losses of timber, cattle, poultry, as well as for necessary expenses related to losses of horticulture crops and present value losses associated with pecan production.
For covered commodities, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) opened signup for WHIP+ in September and has since distributed millions of dollars in assistance to producers throughout the country to help with recovery from 2018 and 2019 disasters. Signup for the program continues into 2020.
WHIP+, the block grants, the Milk Loss Program and the On-Farm Storage Loss Program were authorized by the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019.
Other Assistance
USDA crop insurance programs paid in 2018 indemnities of $489 million to producers affected by the hurricanes that devastated the Southeast. Many producers in the area also have received help through USDA’s Emergency Conservation Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program or Emergency Forest Restoration Program.
Farmers affected by flooding and excess moisture in 2019 have received assistance through the prevented planting provisions in their crop insurance policies. So far this year, producers have reported they were prevented from planting on nearly 20 million acres, a modern record. Indemnities from crop insurance have surpassed $4 billion this year, with almost $3.9 billion of that going to producers unable to plant because of flooding or excess moisture.
The Disaster Relief Act also authorized a “top-up” payment for producers who made prevented planting claims. USDA has distributed through producers’ Approved Insurance Providers nearly $570 million in top-up payments. Additional payments will be made in the middle of each month as more prevented planting claims are processed.
Farmers who planted cover crops on prevented plant acres were able to hay, graze or chop those fields earlier than November this year while maintaining eligibility for their full 2019 prevented planting indemnity. USDA adjusted the 2019 final haying and grazing date from November 1 to September 1 to help farmers who were prevented from planting because of flooding and excess rainfall this spring. The agency also determined that silage, haylage and baleage should be treated in the same manner as haying and grazing for this year.
Other USDA disaster assistance programs include ones for losses of trees, bushes, vines, bee hives, farm-raised fish and livestock. And to help producers prepare for and recover from catastrophic natural disasters, USDA provides credit through emergency loans and through feed and forage loss compensation, watershed protection, noninsured crops coverage and land rehabilitation programs.
USDA also has accommodated producers affected by weather-related challenges by increasing program availability and flexibility. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), which administers federal crop insurance, has assisted producers this year by deferring accrual of interest on insurance premiums and extending acreage reporting deadlines. Additionally, USDA has made payments through the Market Facilitation Program to producers suffering from the effects of retaliatory tariffs on their products from some U.S. trading partners.
For More Help
Producers affected by disasters are encouraged to visit the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool on farmers.gov, which will help them gain a better understanding of available programs.
To learn more about or apply for WHIP+ and other USDA disaster assistance programs, producers should contact their local USDA service center or visit farmers.gov. To learn more about crop insurance, producers should visit rma.usda.gov.
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World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE)
November 8, 2019
